Ground search for missing Deltona woman and 2 children halted

October 28, 2013|By Arelis R. Hernández, Orlando Sentinel

Yessenia Suarez was in her mother's house Tuesday night discussing the future of her marriage after her husband — a former gang member — slapped her in front of her colleagues at her Lake Mary job earlier that day.

Suarez was determined to end the relationship. Her mother begged Suarez to stay the night, but the young mother was exhausted and wanted to sleep in her own bed. Besides, she and her kids — Thalia, 9, and 8-year-old Michael Otto — lived right around the corner from their abuela.

As she reached the front door, Suarez turned and looked back at her mother, Felicita Perez — and that was the last time she saw the 28-year-old woman and her children.

Late Thursday, Volusia County deputies came to Perez's home to notify the family that their three loved ones were dead.

A search through the weekend was unsuccessful and was "temporarily suspended" Monday as investigators go back over their notes and information to determine their next steps.

The family is devastated.

"We haven't heard anything in 36 hours. We are at the point that we have to get our own answers ourselves because we cannot get them from" the Sheriff's Office, said Suarez's stepfather, Ruben Perez.

Felicita Perez holds on to hope despite detectives' confidence that her daughter and grandchildren are dead: "Where are the bodies?" she said Monday outside her home. "Bring me the proof."

Volusia County Sheriff's Office spokesman Gary Davidson said there are details, such as what led officials to their grim conclusion. But detectives cannot release anything publicly without compromising their investigation.

The frustration, he said, is mutual.

"This is an enormous tragedy for everyone concerned," Davidson said. "The best thing we can do for the family is bring some justice to the case by ensuring that we take all the necessary steps to successfully conclude the investigation.

"Disclosing everything we know at this time is not helpful to that objective."

Davidson would not comment on anything Suarez's husband, Luis Toledo, told investigators despite being named a "person of interest" in the family's vanishing. He was charged with domestic battery and has attempted suicide while in custody at the Volusia County Branch Jail.

Investigators have not said whether Toledo confessed to killing Suarez and her kids, and so far, he has not been charged in connection with their deaths. No new details have been released.

Orlando criminal-defense attorney Richard Hornsby said the Sheriff's Office's hesitance to release information — while announcing the three are dead — seems strange. But there could be a good reason for it, he said.

"The only thing I could think is that they think there is another individual involved in the deaths," he said.

At a standstill

Felicita Perez had been with Thalia and Michael since their umbilical cords were cut. Thalia was her first grandchild of five and the firstborn of her eldest daughter.

Many afternoons, she picked up the third-graders — known as "the twins" by classmates — and brought them home to supervise their homework.

While Thalia needed no prodding, Michael could be distracted by television. Though virtually inseparable — they were born 10 months apart — the siblings were polar opposites, Perez said.

An extrovert, Thalia thrived in school, played clarinet and joined a cheerleading squad, the Mighty Mites. Her natural exuberance was often on display during Sabbath School at their Seventh-day Adventist church as her grandmother narrated Bible stories and Thalia acted them out for students.

"She was just one of those kids who had every positive attribute you would want in a kid," said Dicye Byrd, Thalia's cheerleading coach. "She was loving, obedient and strived to do her best."

Michael Elijah was more reserved, childlike and lived in a world all his own. Content to be alone with his toys, Michael was playful and loved to be chased by his grandma when she wanted a kiss.

"He didn't give them for free," Perez said. "I would have to wrestle him to get a kiss from him."

While Michael took after his father physically, Perez said, Thalia was her mother Yessenia's clone.

After having her children young, the 28-year-old Suarez earned her associate's degree in human-resources management from Valencia College in May 2011. Her goal was to finish her bachelor's by the age of 30.

Fellow organizational behavior students at Rollins College's Hamilton Holt School remembered Suarez as a charismatic and determined professional who excelled academically.

"She was a strong-willed woman and passionate about her education," said academic adviser Debbie Tatum. She was a role model to her younger siblings Emily and Jonathan Suarez, Perez said.

Classmate Carmen Rasnick worked alongside Suarez at the school and said she brought her children to all the activities, wanting to include them in her education.

Suarez met Toledo five years ago, and by outward appearances, the family lived a peaceful life. Though she knew of Toledo's past, Felicita Perez said she accepted her daughter's choice in a husband.

It's not clear what drew Suarez, a working single mother, to the former Latin Kings gang member with a violent history. The couple had been married nearly three years but had been discussing a separation, records show.

Without confirmation of their deaths and the Sheriff's Office staying mum, Ruben Perez said the family is "at a standstill." Loved ones will continue to search for Yessenia and the kids around Volusia and Seminole counties, he said.

Felicita Perez said she thinks Toledo has the answers.

"Luis, I beg you, you're the only one that knows where they are," Perez said Monday. "Please, please, I wasn't bad to you. ... Just give me my grandkids and our daughter please."